Ladies, when you first started working out, you might have been told: Cardio, cardio, cardio.

That mantra’s not exactly wrong, but it’s not the whole answer to the question of how to get in shape. In fact, strength training is even more important than doing cardio for women wanting to get fit, stay healthy and get that Dreambody you’ve always wanted.

For Paul Anthony’s female personal training clients in Calgary, the key to success is a combination of strength training and cardiovascular training. Today’s blog outlines the reasons why strength training is critical to women’s fitness and health.

1. You’ll be stronger. Cardio is excellent for endurance and better circulation, which is great. But weight training is part of the key to making your muscles stronger. By being stronger, you’ll depend less on other people to help you with those day-to-day chores that require a bit of strength. Picking up the kids, carrying loads of groceries or piles of laundry, and even climbing the stairs won’t leave you out of breath. When you improve your strength with weight training, you’re also less likely to get hurt. Plus, studies show that you don’t have to push your muscles to the max while working out to get the benefits of weight-bearing exercises.

2. You will burn fat. Yes, cardio is not the only way to slim down. Research proves that women who do weight training at least twice a week for two months will likely gain 2 pounds of muscle while losing 3.5 pounds of fat. Not bad. On top of that, having lean muscle increases your metabolism, meaning you’ll burn more calories throughout the day as you go about your daily routine. For every muscle you gain, you burn between 35 and 50 extra calories a day. What could be easier than that?

3. You’ll sleep better. The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine put out a study that showed women who weightlift on a consistent basis for 8 weeks had a 30% improvement in their sleeping habits. The participants fell asleep quicker and stayed asleep for longer than before they started weight training. If you work out in the evening, finish your routine at least 3 hours before bedtime to allow your metabolism to slow and your body temperature to cool.

4. It fights depression and diabetes. Lifting relatively heavy weights, with the guidance of a personal trainer, has been proven to reduce the risk of depression and of diabetes. Studies of people who did strength training on the large muscle groups all showed better results in depression ratings and can reduce the chances of being affected by Type II diabetes.

5. Your athletic performance improves. Strength training has been proven to improve your athletic abilities in other activities, such as golf, skiing, cycling, running and more.

6. The risk of injury decreases. When you’re stronger, you’re less prone to injury. But in addition to that, weightlifting helps build stronger connective tissues throughout your body and increases joint stability. That means less lower back pain and a higher resistance to the pain of osteoarthritis.

7. It lowers cholesterol. Weightlifting has been shown to lower people’s levels of the bad cholesterol, LDL, and increase levels of good cholesterol, HDL. Here, cardio definitely adds to the benefits. All this means your risk of heart disease is reduced, which is very good news.

Calgary personal trainer Paul Anthony always recommends working alongside a trainer, in order to get the best results from your strength-training workout, and to get advice on how to lift properly in order to prevent injury. Join Paul’s online training programs or meet him in the gym for one-on-one sessions by clicking the Contact button to the left and filling out the form.